A by-no-means-exhaustive search on the internet
regarding "processed food" turns up some very divergent
and controversial information and opinions on the subject.
One camp eschews any kind of processed food; the other
touts the safety and convenience of it.
What is processed food? Wikipedia describes "processed
food" as any food that is changed from its natural, raw
state. Did you peel your banana before you ate it? Cut your
apple into slices? Stir-fry your dinner vegetables? Scramble
your egg? You just processed your food by that definition.
Following are common food processing techniques listed in
the Wikipedia entry:
* "Removal of unwanted outer layers, such as potato
peeling or the skinning of peaches
* Chopping or slicing, of which examples include potato
chips, diced carrot, or candied peel.
* Mincing and macerating
* Liquefaction, such as to produce fruit juice
* Emulsification
* Cooking, such as boiling, broiling, frying, steaming or
grilling
* Mixing
* Addition of gas such as air entrainment for bread or
gasification of soft drinks
* Proofing
* Spray drying"
Under that broad of a definition, nearly every food we eat
is processed. However, most of us tend to define
processed food in a much narrower sense. For us,
"processed food" is food which has been chemically altered
through additives such as flavors, flavor enhancers,
binders, colors, fillers, preservatives, stabilizers, emulsifiers,
etc., or which has been manufactured through combination
or other methods. Generally speaking, if the ingredients
aren't "natural", then we consider it to be processed.
If you want to make yourself totally paranoid about your
food (and that's not too hard to do), there is plenty of
information out there spelling out all the horrors that await
you from eating processed food: the cancers and diseases
you will get from the dioxins and thousands of other toxic
chemicals; the shorter life span you will have; the damage
you personally are inflicting upon our planet through your
consumption of processed food, etc. There is no shortage
of Chicken Littles running around squawking about the sky
falling. And, to some extent, they're right. The chemicals in
our food and our environment are certainly not doing us
any favors.
But are things really as bad as they make them out to be?
The truth is, processing has made the world's food supply
much safer to eat, and has made the storage of food a
much healthier and more viable option. Processing kills
pathogens, and extends the shelf life of food. Were there
to be a food shortage or even a famine, shelf items are
going to keep you alive a lot longer than raw food, which
will be rotten within a few days. Processing had made it
possible to transport food to famine-stricken areas, thus
helping to relieve suffering worldwide. Processing even
increases the bioavailability of some nutrients, such as
lycopene, found in tomatoes.
Despite these benefits, a diet exclusive in processed foods
will almost certainly lead to disease. Our bodies are
designed to eat natural, raw foods; there's no doubt about
that. Raw foods contain beneficial enzymes and nutrients
that are destroyed through processing. Just because a pill
contains the "nutrients" of a whole shopping list of
vegetables doesn't mean our bodies get the same benefit
as eating the vegetables themselves. Nutrients, enzymes,
and other components of the foods we eat work
synergistically. We really don't know how well they work
when they're isolated from each other, or when we ingest
synthetic versions.
We should eat as many raw foods as we can daily. Adding
fresh fruits and vegetables to our meals and snacks is an
easy way to accomplish this. However, a totally vegan diet
is just not feasible for most people. Time and resources are
often strong opponents to good health. Additionally, there
is not enough raw food for everybody to suddenly adopt
veganism, nor would everybody want to. We must each
find the proper balance that works for us.
Eliminating all processed food is probably not going to
happen for most of us. But we can make better food
choices and supplement our diets with missing
components. We can opt for the apple over the apple juice.
We can choose a baked potato or salad over french fries.
We can choose whole-grain bread over the white fluff that
is passed off as bread. We can take the time to read food
labels. Chances are, if you can't pronounce it, you shouldn't
be eating it. We can choose processed foods with a very
short list of ingredients; the longer the list, the more
processing involved, and the more nutrition lost.
Our bodies are amazing organisms, capable of
extraordinary things. They are designed to filter out toxins
at an astounding rate. They have a highly sophisticated
defense system. They have an amazing ability to recover
from serious damage. The key lies in providing our bodies
with the necessary building blocks to accomplish what they
were designed to do-to keep us alive!
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